top of page

'IT IS A CONCERN:' DOUBTS GROW AROUND DE MINAUR'S FITNESS



Former world No.33 John Millman has stressed that there will continue to be a question mark surrounding Alex de Minaur's Olympic campaign until he steps out on court.


Scans confirmed a cartilage tear on de Minaur's right hip sustained before his Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, eventually forced to withdraw without hitting a ball.


Millman, a two-time Olympian and Davis Cup semi-finalist in 2017 for Australia, appeared on The ABC Tennis Podcast as he provided his thoughts on the world No.6's fitness.


"It is going to come down to how Alex's body is," said Millman. "He will be refreshed mentally, but it's whether he's ready to go physically.


"I spoke to Matt Reid [part of de Minaur's coaching team] and it [the hip] is a concern still. Obviously it was going to be touch-and-go with that type of injury. They were going to go out last night [Thursday night AEDT] to have a really good test out and see where it's at because Alex won't take to the court I don't believe unless he is 100 per cent ready to go.


"He doesn't want to risk re-injuring that, and he still potentially could be an alternate for the doubles or mixed doubles.


"He's going to give himself every chance. I love seeing him there, he's obviously there to play, but there's still a little bit of time to tell whether he will be able to take to the court.


"I imagine he's gone to the referee's office and asked for an extra day. It's a race against the clock, but hopefully for every Australian fan out there he's good to take it against Jan-Lennard Struff."


Set to face Struff in the opening round, the pair recently met earlier this year at the French Open where de Minaur produced arguably one of his best performances on clay to oust the big-hitting German 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.


Having agonisingly missed out on competing at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago due to testing positive for Covid at the last minute, the 25-year-old will be doing everything possible to make his long-awaited Olympic debut.

Comments


bottom of page